Mr. Monk Makes a Friend
Mr. Monk Makes a Friend is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of Monk. Synopsis A fun-loving everyman named Hal bumps into Monk, and the two become fast friends. For the first time in his life, Monk appears to have a buddy. But is Hal up to something? Plot In her apartment, Gail Segalis, is unpacking from an overseas trip while her new boyfriend is showering. In the middle of unpacking, she asks her boyfriend if he can stay long enough to have a drink, and offers to open up a bottle of Santorini wine that he purchased. The boyfriend sounds outraged. He gets out of the shower, puts on a bathrobe, and walks over to confront her for opening the bottle too soon. Just as Gail notices something is stuck inside the wine bottle, the boyfriend suddenly proceeds to fatally strangle her with a towel. Sometime later, Monk is getting his grocery shopping done when he inadvertently collides with another shopper, Hal Tucker. They hit it off immediately. Hal seems to be everything Monk ever wanted in a friend, and the two men promise to meet again soon. Back at Gail Segalis' apartment, a full crime scene investigation is underway. Monk quickly finds a wet candle in the bathroom and discovers that the towels on the rack are still wet. He concludes that the attacker was in the shower when Gail said or did something that upset him. He opened the shower curtain, not bothering to stop and turn off the water. he grabbed the first towel off the rack, then he killed her with it. Much to Monk's, Stottlemeyer's and Disher's surprise, they know Gail: she's a former police dispatcher. Monk in particular remembers that he carpooled with her when he was on the force, and that she told him a lot about vacations she was planning, even promising to send him a picture if she ever got to the Parthenon. It's clear that she must have made it since they find photos of her that were taken in Athens, including ones of a person they decide must be a boyfriend. They also find a wine box with a price tag in Euros, but the wine bottle is gone. While they're looking over the scene, Natalie receives a phone call, from none other than Hal himself. Everyone is stunned to hear that Monk has a friend, but Monk couldn't be happier. The following day at Monk's apartment, Hal arrives to pick up Monk on their way to a Sharks hockey game. Natalie and Julie are there, and they find Hal to be charming and friendly and normal - the exact opposite of Monk! Naturally, Natalie's suspicious. Monk and Hal get along at the hockey game like a couple of old pals. However, Monk becomes a bit weary when, during a break in the game, Hal runs into another friend of his and finds out that Hal has done time in prison. Hal admits that he did a year in prison for receiving stolen property, namely some antique coins. Monk has his first doubts, but quickly forgets them - after all, he has a friend. The next day, Stottlemeyer and Disher interrogate Gail's former boyfriend, Tim Hayden, the man in the photographs found at Gail's apartment. He insists that he was at his restaurant all day on the day of the murder. He admits that he took Gail to Greece, but he returned early because she dumped him for another man she met at their hotel. Tim doesn't remember the other guy's name, only that he had a beard and he smelled like he had money since he bought her an expensive bottle of Santorini wine. But he does swear he'd recognize the man's face if he saw him again. After the interrogation, Stottlemeyer and Disher join Monk and Natalie in the observation room. Stottlemeyer is a bit suspicious about Monk's new friendship with Hal and privately warns him that Hal could be a con artist who takes money from people by "softening the mark". But Monk is certain Hal isn't a con artist. Back at Monk's apartment, Monk and Hal watch an old Sonny Chow movie - interrupted only by the arrival of Monk's mail, which Hal eagerly picks up. What Monk doesn't know is that Hal is Gail's killer. That night, Tim Hayden is working late in his restaurant, doing inventory, when Hal knocks on the kitchen door. Using a lie that he wants to make a reservation, Hal tricks Tim into letting him into the kitchen. Tim is stunned to see that Hal has shaved his beard since they last saw each other, which Hal admits is because Gail didn't like it. Hal's real reason for coming over is because he's aware the police have been questioning Tim, and he wants to know if Tim has told them anything about him. When Tim admits they don't know who he is, Hal draws a revolver and tries to shoot him. However, the gun jams, and this gives Tim the opportunity to attack Hal. After a short struggle, Hal manages to get the upper hand, grabs the revolver, and whips the luckless Tim to death with the barrel. He then wipes his prints off the revolver and leaves. The next day, after a session with Dr. Kroger, Monk decides to take his relationship with Hal to the next level - he's going to ask him to be his best friend. Hal tags along when Monk gets called to the murder scene at Tim Hayden's restaurant. While Monk looks around, Hal notices a pair of sunglasses he dropped during the fight and surreptitiously retrieves them. Monk is able to conclude that the crime is not the work of a random mugger or junkie since they would've emptied his pockets. Stottlemeyer, meanwhile, has also been harboring suspicions about Monk's new friend, and he, Natalie, and Disher take Hal aside and confront him. Hal defends himself, claiming to be Monk's only true friend. Back at Monk's apartment, Hal once again checks the mail, and this time, he finds what he's been looking for. It's a letter from Gail Segalis which contains the promised photo of her at the Parthenon...posing with Hal. Hal pockets the incriminating letter for himself. Having gotten what he wants, Hal has no further need for Monk, and when Monk asks him to be best friends, Hal hastily agrees before hurrying off. Monk is ecstatic. He thinks he has a new best friend! But Monk becomes a wreck as days pass without hearing from Hal. Natalie convinces him to go to Hal's place and talk to him, man to man. Monk agrees to do so. Meanwhile, Stottlemeyer gets a lab report on the revolver used to kill Tim Hayden. It turns out the weapon didn't fire because the firing pin had worn out. They think Monk's output is needed, but then Randy mentions that Monk is having problems with Hal. Stottlemeyer pauses, looking down at the gun and realizes...Hal knew things about Tim's death at the restaurant that only the killer would know. When Randy showed Hal the revolver and said it was the murder weapon, Hal immediately pointed to the cracked handle, meaning he knew alll along that the killer used it like a club, when they hadn't yet told him that Tim had been pistol-whipped. A normal person, when shown a gun that's been identified as the murder weapon, would have assumed the victim had been shot. They immediately head out to grab Hal. Meanwhile, Monk arrives outside of Hal's apartment. Monk sees Hal with another friend who came from lunch. Hal's ticked because Monk showed up. Hal's friend goes home for the day, and Hal reluctantly takes Monk upstairs. Monk's impressed by the interiors, and as Hal closes the blinds, he unconsciously starts humming a song. Monk immediately recognizes the song as the one he heard on a music box in Gail's apartment. As he looks at the photos, he suddenly notices photos of Hal, with a beard, in a Greek market. Just as he puts the pieces together, Hal produces a pistol and trains it on him. Monk now suddenly puts two and two together: Hal's only reason for befriending Monk was so that he could get the postcard that Gail had sent to him, which would've incriminated him in her death. He knew about Monk from information Gail had told him, so he had intentionally invoked an incident to get Monk to run into him. Then Monk notices the wine bottle. Through a quick distraction, he is able to grab the pistol and train it on Hal, and orders him to open the wine bottle. Indeed, it is carrying an antique figurine. Now it all makes more sense to Monk: Hal is an antiques smuggler. He has a criminal record, so he knew his things would be searched at the airport, so he seduced Gail to get the bottle past US Customs. Then Hal turns on the charm and becomes Monk's best friend again. He wins Monk over, then gets control of the weapon again and trains it on Monk. Before Hal can shoot him, Stottlemeyer and Disher burst in to arrest him. 5.11 Category:Season 5